Eco-tip: Don't water your lawn when it's raining

During the recent rains, did you see a neighbor’s automatic sprinkler system running?

If adjusted correctly and shut off during wet weather, automatic sprinkler systems are water-saving devices. They prevent accidental overwatering and excessive runoff into storm drains. Using less water can save money, too; 70 percent of a typical household’s water use is outdoors,

Weather-based “smart controllers” are available for residential or commercial use from local landscape and irrigation companies. Simple controllers, costing less than $300, use moisture sensors. More sophisticated devices — ones capable of adjusting to “June Gloom” in the morning and bright sunlight in the afternoon, plus being sensitive to the water needs of different types of landscape in each zone of your garden — cost more than $700. For a monthly fee, you can even get automatic sprinkler controllers linked to a satellite with weather data from a station near your home.

Some water providers subsidize customers’ purchases of smart irrigation controllers. For example, the Casitas Municipal Water District is offering up to $250 rebates for qualifying irrigation controllers.

Some water providers also offer free shower heads, faucet aerators and replacement toilet flappers, along with dye to put in your tank so you can determine whether you need a replacement flapper. Casitas also offers subsidies for turf removal and for low-water-using commercial and residential washers and toilets.

With all this promotion of technologies to conserve water, let’s not forget the most basic technological “fixes.” Check for leaks, repair broken sprinkler heads and manually reset controllers after a power outage. After outages, many sprinkler systems default to factory settings, watering 10 minutes per day every day, even when it’s raining.